Djedovic Handanovic signs MoU with Chinese energy firm

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic signed on Wednesday a MoU between the Serbian government and the China Energy International Group on strategic cooperation in the energy sector.

The minister said the cooperation would make it possible to boost electricity storage capacities by utilising new technologies.

"We know how important that is in today's world, how many more renewable energy sources we are trying to get into our grid and, in that context, we have committed to ensure that nearly half of our MWs come from renewable sources by 2030, but energy storage is extremely important to us for that," Djedovic Handanovic said.

She noted that Chinese companies had highly developed methodology and technology when it comes to compressed air.

"That energy storage technology was also current ten years ago but was considered insufficiently developed at the time. Such storage facilities now exist in the UK and were built by Chinese companies, and this is an opportunity to bring such technology to Serbia," she said.

This is a direct foreign investment from China that will be put to the service of our power generation system, the minister said.

On behalf of the China Energy International Group, the MoU was signed by the company's representative for South Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, Wang Bo.

The signing ceremony was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to Belgrade Li Ming.